Almighty painter

Chapter 943 Listening to Anna Play the Piano

Gu Weijing drove slowly and steadily on the empty highway, blaming the 1.6L turbocharged diesel engine in front of the steering wheel for the whole thing, though it was a bit unfair to blame the engine that was working so hard.

Although good fuel economy is the manufacturer's top priority when designing this engine, the lightness of the car also has its advantages. Even with low horsepower, it can still go quite fast when the accelerator is fully depressed.

Gu Weijing wasn't stingy with the money for gas; he could afford a better car. He just wanted to drive slowly.

Some people drive slowly because they are attracted by the scenery along the way, while others drive slowly because they don't want to reach their destination so quickly.

When the end of a trip makes you feel anxious and lost.

People always want to slow down when they're in the road.

No matter how slowly you drive, the road will always have an end.

……

Fifteen minutes later, the Polo sedan turned off the expressway, drove for a few more minutes on country roads, and finally entered a small farm.

The small farm is located in the forest, with the Outer Alster Lake waterway behind it. On the hills by the Dutch-style canal stands a three-story red brick house. Gu Weijing parked the car next to the yard, walked to the door, and placed his finger on the fingerprint lock on the thick back door.

beep.

With a crisp electronic sound, the indicator light on the security door turned green, and Gu Weijing pushed the door open and entered the brick house.

The building originally belonged to a local Hamburg farmer and was later converted into a bed and breakfast.

He pushed open the door and found himself in a restaurant, from which a long corridor stretched out, flanked by blue walls and rows of old-looking brown wooden doors. On his first visit, Gu Weijing felt a sense of exotic exploration, as if each door held a new and wondrous world behind it.

Having visited this place countless times over the past year, the novelty has naturally worn off.

Gu Weijing was already completely familiar with everything about himself.

He went to the kitchen, grabbed a cup, poured himself a cup of coffee, and walked towards the direction from which the music was coming from, drinking it as he did so.

The main hall of the room used to be the reception desk of the guesthouse. When Miss Elena bought the place, she moved all the furnishings away and carried out a major renovation of the room. The window glass was replaced with new glass, thick curtains were hung, the floor tiles were replaced with wooden flooring, and the counter was moved and replaced with built-in bookshelves.

Only the fireplace was preserved.

German winters are very cold, and women particularly enjoy the warm, cozy feeling of an old stove with a thin layer of soot.

The only problem is with the piano.

In the largest space in the foyer—right in the center near the window—a grand piano sits at an angle.

In old movies, you can often see scenes of relatives and friends sitting around the fireplace listening to the lady of the house playing the piano in a snowy winter. If there are many people in the family and the atmosphere is more artistic, the whole family can even organize a choir and sing "Doe, a deer, a female deer..." and so on.

In fact, fireplaces are a major no-no for piano storage. The uneven heating caused by the temperature difference between the side facing the fireplace and the side facing away from it can affect the sound chamber. Room humidity is also extremely difficult to control accurately, and the fine ash from old-fashioned fireplaces is a nightmare to clean.

Ultimately, after careful consideration, they chose a Roland grand electric piano that did not require tuning.

The woman was playing the piano, the music initially focused on the low register, then gradually unfolding like ocean waves rising higher and higher. When Gu Weijing entered the room with his coffee cup, the music was almost leaping on the crests of those waves, reaching the climax of the piece.

Compared to a year ago.

Miss Elena's biggest change was that her hair had grown longer; when she sat in a chair, the slightly curled ends of her hair could hang down to about three fingers' width below her shoulder.

Gu Weijing stood by the room. He was extremely familiar with the piece of music and with this scene.

Anna did not stop playing the piano because of Gu Weijing's arrival, and Gu Weijing did not interrupt Anna because of his arrival.

Neither of them spoke.

Only the sound of the piano echoed in the room.

Listening to music is a challenge for Gu Weijing. It seems that the old man's talent for "rushing waves, flowing waves, and endless waves" has not been fully inherited by his grandson.

Gu Weijing had heard Eliot tell him how well Anna played the piano.

Including Uncle Alai... Uncle Alai is truly a person with great artistic appreciation, and he also said that Miss Elena's playing skills are superb.

Gu Weijing couldn't hear it.

It's not that Gu Weijing couldn't tell Anna played the piano well; of course she played very well. Miss Elena played very well, Ryuichi Sakamoto played very well, Sviatoslav Richter played very well, Lang Lang played very well, Richard Clayderman played very well... any internationally renowned master played very well, which is only natural.

But... exactly what makes it good?

For Gu Weijing, any pianist and piano piece that can be found on Apple Music is played very well. As Miss Elena pointed out in her commentary, "What's even more frightening is that in your mind, all piano pieces are equally good."

Gu Weijing was certainly not unserious.

He cherishes his blessings and is also earnest.

Gu Weijing listened very hard from the very beginning, especially after he leisurely sat in the house for the first time and listened to Miss Elena play the piano piece. Then, he was surprised to find that the task was not so easy to complete, so Gu Weijing listened even more diligently.

He worked as hard as if he were running a marathon.

With ears perked up and strides heavy, he strained towards the finish line 42 kilometers away, waving his hands as he ran. Each note was like a firefly flitting past him, and he tried to catch them in his palm.

however.

He was carrying a bamboo basket, not a tightly sealed glass bottle.

A frustrating scene unfolded: he had just tossed a firefly and a melody into the basket when it flapped its wings and flew away through the gaps in the bamboo weave.

to the end.

As the piece of music ended, Gu Weijing, panting, took off the basket on his back and looked at it.

Well.

It was still an empty basket.

Just like today, a day that left a slightly deeper impression on Gu Weijing, Miss Elena's piano music was like a surging tide, but what he imagined in his mind was Awang waving his claws and vigorously slapping the little yellow duck in the bathtub.

As Gu Weijing listened to Anna's performance, he looked around at the walls.

After the season for burning the stove ended, in addition to wiping the piano, Miss Elena also asked Eliot to help put out all the works that Gu Weijing had completed.

The first painting was the one they had discussed while they were on the island.

That painting, "The Leaky Mirror".

Compared to the draft that Gu Weijing drew on the sand with his fingers while on the island, the actual bound finished product seems even more concise, with the picture filled with a lot of white space.

Its sharpness is evident in its location.

Round and simple.

It makes the body appear even stronger.

This is the result of a whole semester of classes, and also the result of Gu Wei practicing calligraphy again as he did when he was a child over the past six months.

Title: The Leaky Clock

"Chinese Painting Techniques: lv.6 Professional Painter Level 3 (49999/50000)" "Emotion: Heart and Soul"

Over the past year, Gu Weijing had worried more than once about whether his Chinese painting practice was sufficient. However, three weeks ago, when the experience bar on the system panel was fully filled to level six, Gu Weijing's doubts were completely dispelled.

You may plant flowers intentionally, but they may not bloom.

Inadvertently insert willows and willows.

He tried so hard, attempting again and again over the past year to complete the three requirements in the system panel. Apart from making some progress in painting porcelain, he tried almost every method to listen to piano music, which seemed the simplest task, but he just couldn't meet the requirements.

Unlike the "Fragment of Renoir's Ghost" quest obtained after completing the copy of "The Old Church on a Thunderstorm," which failed to meet Gu Weijing's expectations.

Gu Weijing simply followed the routine and attended the classes.

His Chinese painting skills improved by leaps and bounds.

one year later.

Gu Weijing has already reached the bottleneck of level Lv.6. He is only one hair away from the true master realm. He is already very close to the painting level of Tang Ning when he participated in the Shanghai Art Biennale. He is even a little younger than Tang Ning at that time.

Gu Weijing was very grateful to Cao Xuan, and he was also very proud of himself.

To know.

In the past year, Gu Weijing did not add any extra free experience points to his traditional Chinese painting skills. His painting level is still like bamboo after a spring rain - just look at it and it will climb higher and higher on its own.

Then came the second painting, the third painting, the fourth painting...

Currently, there are seven works hanging on the wall, which is still some distance from the minimum of ten works they initially set. The wall next to the works has been replaced with a soft board, on which various documents are densely pinned with thumbtacks, including critics' phone numbers, relevant dates for touring exhibition venues, and relevant details and precautions for various media, public relations and marketing activities.

Miss Elena called it a "strategic briefing board".

Like a general commanding an army, she oversaw the entire exhibition, orchestrating the layout of the Maes Gallery on this board, while a date was written in marker on the top board.

This is the official opening date of Gu Weijing's art exhibition.

Anna called it "D-Day," which is known as the code name for the Normandy landings during World War II, which opened a second front in Europe and accelerated the defeat of the German army. It is also a common military designation for "the day of the start of an operation."

They will be there on that day.

"—Completely crush Deckard Anlen, whose career seems to be in utter disarray!"

The ambitious glint in Miss Elena's eyes when she wrote down that date with a marker undoubtedly spoke volumes.

Whether his career is truly a disaster or still salvageable is something Deckard Anlen probably has something to say.

Anna didn't want to hear it.

The only problem is that they themselves are also facing difficulties.

The exhibition initially listed April 27, 2018 at the top, but that date was crossed out with a marker and changed to August 3 of the same year, which is today.

This month was originally the official opening date of Gu Weijing's solo art exhibition. Since he is now standing in a small farm on the outskirts of Hamburg listening to Anna play the piano, instead of being interviewed by art journalists at the Louvre in Abu Dhabi, thousands of kilometers away in the desert, it naturally means that his exhibition has been postponed for the second time.

just now.

That was the third time Anna wrote about.

2019 4 Month 26 Day.

It has been a full year since Gu Weijing's first solo art exhibition was originally scheduled.

Gu Weijing looked at the blank sticky note pinned to the date with a marker and shrugged.

As he pondered the last three works missing from the exhibition, the piano music in his ears gradually faded, changing from intense to gentle and delicate, its rhythm like the receding tide at dawn.

Gu Weijing knew that this piano piece was nearing its end.

He glanced at the sky; the sun was gradually setting around this time. Even though he had little expectation left, Gu Weijing still followed muscle memory and habitually opened the system panel for a quick look.

[Active Skill: Ray Noah - Fragments of Human Souls]

[Quality: Legendary]

[Special Effect: Active skills of the Ghost Fragment type, provided the following conditions are met—]

[Current activation condition (0/3), upon completion, you will receive (10 hours) of skill usage time.]

1. Stand on the Pont des Arts (Bridge of Arts) between the French Academy of Arts and the Louvre River and watch the sunset. (Incomplete)

2. In a private room after sunset, listen to a 30-minute informal piano performance by a female pianist under the age of 30. The repertoire must include piano selections from Debussy's "Clair de Lune" and the third movement, "Dialogue between Wind and Sea," of the Symphony "La Mer." (Incomplete)

3. Go to any porcelain factory and complete the painting of 100 porcelain pieces. There are no restrictions on type or length, but the emotional expression in the painting must not be inferior to that of a simple, unpretentious work. (Current progress: 63 out of 100)

"It shouldn't have been 30 minutes today."

This thought crossed Gu Weijing's mind.

Cao Xuan told him to be quiet, so he didn't insist on this day. He was also too embarrassed to ask Anna to play for a little longer.

"You played so well, so beautifully."

Gu Weijing turned around, clapped his hands lightly as usual, and then asked.

Good evening, you must be tired. Would you like a cup of coffee?

Anna didn't turn around; she kept her head down, tidying up the sheet music on the piano stand, as if Gu Weijing wasn't even in the room.

Gu Weijing thought about it seriously for a moment.

He opened his mouth and slowly said, "Bestelsat do dui auch Kaffe?"

“Kaffee?”

Anna then turned around.

"Bestellst du dir auch einen Kaffee?"

She repeated it again.

"Good evening, Mr. Gu," she said, switching to a different language.

“So strict?”

Gu Weijing gave a wry smile.

They agreed to start understanding different cultures by learning each other's languages.

“You yourself said you wanted to learn as soon as possible, and the best way to learn is through communication. So I said from the beginning that if you speak to me in English in daily life, I will not answer you.”

(End of this chapter)